ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF THEOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON GRADUATE STUDIES IN ISLAMIC LAW -XII-

The twelfth International Islamic Law Graduate Studies Symposium, organized by the Department of Islamic Law at Istanbul University Faculty of Theology, will be held on 19-21 October 2026 in collaboration with the Dar al-Hadith al-Hassania Institute, affiliated with Al Qarawiyyin University, with contributions from the Istanbul Dar al-Funun Theology Foundation, the İlim Yayma Foundation, and the Ensar Foundation, and with the support of TÜBİTAK. The sessions on 19-20 October will be held in person at the Dean’s Conference Hall of Istanbul University Faculty of Theology, while the international sessions on 21 October will be conducted online.

Following the welcoming remarks, the symposium will open with a panel entitled “Beyond the Human: Animals in Fiqh, Sufism, and Philosophy,” chaired by Prof. Dr. Necmettin Kızılkaya. The panel will feature Prof. Dr. Ekrem Demirli, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sümeyye Parıldar, and Dr. Neslihan Mervenur Vural as speakers. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the panel will explore human-animal relations through the diverse perspectives offered by fiqh, Sufism, and philosophy.

Following the opening panel, the first day of the symposium will feature three sessions entitled “Animals and the Environment,” “Participation Banking and Financial Products,” and “Economic History and Institutions.” The second day will continue with sessions on “Preference, Interpretation, and Renewal in Fiqh Thought,” “Fiqh in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods,” and “Child and Consumer Law,” before concluding with an open session entitled “Discussion and Q&A.” On the third day, two international sessions entitled “Animal Welfare and Contracts” and “Classical Legacy and Modern Perspectives in Usul al-Fiqh” will be held online.

Throughout the three-day symposium, classical and contemporary issues in Islamic law will be discussed from a variety of perspectives, ranging from animals and the environment to participation finance, from economic history to renewal in fiqh thought, and from fiqh scholarship in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods to child and consumer law.

For the Symposium Program, please click here.